Reprisals feared as Charlie Hebdo publishes new Muhammad cartoon

Alan Cowell and Kareem Fahimjan

Paris: Muslim groups and scholars in France and elsewhere voiced concerns on Tuesday that a satirical newspaper's first cover since the attack on its journalists last week could ignite dangerous new passions in a debate pitting free speech against religious doctrine.

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Cherif Kouachi, one of two Charlie Hebdo attackers, leaves a Paris courtroom in 2008, accused of carrying out a smuggling ring to send Islamist fighters into Iraq.

Egypt's leading Islamic authority warned that the new cartoon, depicting the Prophet Muhammad, would exacerbate tensions between the secular West and observant Muslims. Death threats circulated online against the surviving staff members of the newspaper, Charlie Hebdo.

The Iranian government says the publication of the cartoon is "insulting" and "provocative". The magazine cover "provokes the emotions of Muslims and hurts their feelings around the world, and could fan the flame of a vicious circle of extremism," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham.

Police stand guard outside the offices of French daily newspaper Liberation as the remaining members of the Charlie Hebdo editorial staff arrive for a meeting. Photo: Getty

The offices of the newspaper were attacked last Wednesday in apparent retaliation for routinely publishing cartoons lampooning Muhammad. Some interpretations of Islamic law forbid images of the prophet.

Iranian officials denounced the massacre the day it occurred and Mr Afkham said on Wednesday that such attacks "have no closeness or similarity to Islam" and are "in complete contradiction to Islamic teaching". However, she indicated that the new cartoon "is not acceptable" and such "abuse should be prevented".

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"Respecting the beliefs and values of followers of divine religions is an acceptable principle," she said.

Survivors of the attack had said they would proceed with their next issue and again depict Muhammad.

The cover of the new issue — already widely seen on the Internet — will be published on Wednesday in a print run of up to three million copies, compared with a typical print run of 60,000 copies. It shows Muhammad displaying the slogan that has become the symbol of resistance to Islamic militants: "Je Suis Charlie," or, "I am Charlie." He is shown weeping under a headline that reads: "All is forgiven."

Muslim organisations in France issued a joint statement on Tuesday expressing concern about the "numerous anti-Muslim acts observed these days," and calling on the authorities to guarantee the security of mosques.

The statement on Tuesday also commented on the new Charlie Hebdo cover, urging French Muslims to "remain calm and avoid emotive or incongruous reactions incompatible with dignity," while "respecting freedom of opinion."

Dar al-Ifta, which issues religious edicts, called on the French government to "announce their rejection of this racist act that attempts to raise religious strife and sectarianism, and deepen hatred."

The blunt admonition, from a pillar of the mainstream Sunni Muslim establishment in the Arab world's most populous country, recalled the pronouncements of Egyptian clerics in 2006 when cartoons depicting Muhammad were published in European newspapers, prompting a massive outpouring of protest — some of it violent — in many parts of the Muslim world.